"In life, there are two categories of people: those who look at the world as it is and ask themselves why, and those who imagine the world as it should be and say to themselves: why not? Aymeric Jung has made G.B. Shaw's quote his own. According to the managing partner of Quadia, a company dedicated to impact investing that favours the principles of the Regenerative Economy, a company's business model must be as close as possible to the functioning of the living world, throughout its value chain...
What has been your journey?
I have a background in investment banking in the financial markets. My job was to find solutions to clients' problems in terms of risk, profitability, liquidity or volatility... I am now applying this search for solutions to another field because in 2007, I started to take an interest in the dysfunction of our food system, a colossus with feet of clay that is making us sick while exhausting the planet. I also looked at the role of biodiversity and soil. I have seen the emergence of many commitments in the field of Agroecology and Permaculture such as Slow Food, Terre de Liens, and the Lunt Foundation. Today, my day-to-day work involves development capital for companies that transform their value chain, with goods and services that create positive impact: "It's about building a new paradigm and deploying a new economic dynamic that reconciles the short term with the long term.
What led you to commit to impact finance?
First of all, I questioned the drift of a system, then I met passionate and exciting entrepreneurs who proposed something different than producing more food at the lowest cost. I liked their approach based on nutritional quality, locality and logistics for example. It proves that better allocating our food production while changing our behaviour or diet are sustainable solutions, not a quantitative or consumerist approach. Investing and investing in building the future we want is simply called commitment and in the current framework of environmental and social emergency, it seems to me to be common sense to be an actor of a necessary transformation and changeover. I didn't know at the beginning, in 2007, that it would be called impact finance!
Beyond impact investing, you advocate the Regenerative Economy. What is the framework?
This year, Quadia closed the €52.6 million Regenero Impact Fund in partnership with Degroof Petercam. The Regenerative Economy, as we see it, is based on our cooperation with the Lunt Foundation and the University of Leuven. It is based on the four pillars of Local, Circular, Functional, Collaborative and Bio-inspired. These pillars are the basis of the functioning of any natural ecosystem. For our investments, we look at the "business model of a company" and try to bring it closer to the functioning of a living ecosystem. From a macro-economic point of view, it is an economy that is able to give back more than it takes. This only really exists in sustainable agriculture where economic value is created while restoring soil and biodiversity. It is essential to extend these principles to a wider part of our economy.
Can you give us some examples of companies that you support?
In the field of food: La Ruche qui dit Oui, a major player in short circuits which has developed new direct outlets for many small producers. Les Côteaux Nantais, where respect for and observation of the living world lead to high quality products.
quality based on biodiversity but also to processing solutions to avoid waste. Biogroupe with the use of fermentation for Kombucha and vegetable desserts, and of course Miimosa, a crowdfunding platform dedicated to sustainable agriculture and food projects. In the context of a new economy, I can mention SofiGroupe, which refurbishes mobile phones, or SOS Accessoire, which enables people to repair their own household appliances thanks to their online diagnostics and tutorials, and the sale of the necessary spare parts. These two companies represent a considerable saving in materials and a reduction in material extraction. Finally, Patatam, a real logistician of second-hand clothing. There are also associations, for example Terre de Liens and Slow Food, or the SSE in Switzerland.
What is your impact management methodology for the companies you invest in?
In 2017, we moved from impact measurement to active impact management. Our methodology is based on four cross-cutting objectives that are integrated into the entire investment process, from opportunity identification to due diligence, from investment management to exit. These four objectives, which are co-constructed with the target companies, are
- the promotion of circular production and consumption,
- optimising the use of natural resources,
- the promotion of a fair value chain,
- support for local communities.
These objectives are broken down into 16 indicators, assessed for each company. Quadia's commitment is to help companies maximise impact creation throughout the investment period. This method allows us to go beyond simple impact measurement, according to an action plan that corresponds to the core of the Theory of Change we have developed. Our particularity is to have a transversal action. We make sure that the impact becomes strategic for the company instead of just taking credit for the impact that the company creates.
How do you think impact investing can be promoted?
All investment has an impact. In the context of the environmental and social transformation of our economy, there is investment that reduces negative impact and investment that creates positive impact. In order to promote impact investment, I think that it must become natural and obvious, because it is our common future that is at stake in interdependence. It is therefore necessary to promote education and understanding of our environment among the entire population. This requires less individualistic consumers, shareholders with a common vision of the role of the company that is not limited to short-term profit (as in the stock market with indexed investments) and a state that guides and supports social transformation (such as the fair distribution of the wealth created and governance) and environmental transformation (such as the fair consideration of externalities).
